Witness

Sergey G.

Country

Russia

Birthdate and Birthplace

1933, Alexandrovka

Year of video recording

2009

InEvidence link (YahadMap)
Know more

Alexandrovka, RUSSIA

Aleksandrovka is a village, located 8 km north of Smolensk. Before the war, there were many Roma people living around the village. The first reports of their existence in the Smolensk region date back to the 19th century. The village was occupied by Germans in summer 1941. The Roma could continue living in their houses until they were executed on April 24, 1942. The execution was conducted by SS Einsatzgruppe B. On the night before the execution, the village was cordoned off and all the residents, including the Roma from the nearing village of Devkino, were gathered at the place close to the lake. After a selection, which was made according to the lists provided by local administration, the Roma people were driven to the execution, located in the woods, and the Russians were released. Once on the site, the men were separated from the women and children and were shot the first. Prior to be shot, all Roma were forced to undress inside a barn, located 20-30m away. According to the archives and local witnesses, the small children were thrown in the pit alive. Some women and children managed to released claiming being Russians, as they had light hair and skin. After the execution, the Germans sent wagons to collect the remaining pieces of clothing in the village.
Sergey G. is a Sedentary Roma. His mother, his younger brother and him managed to survive the war, because they weren’t mentioned as Roma in the official lists provided to the Germans.
Sergey guided the YIU-team to the execution site.

Sergey G., born in 1933. © Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad-In Unum

Sergey G. in front of his house © Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad-In Unum

Sergey G. explaining his memories © Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad-In Unum

Glossary

"gypsy" kolkhoz
At the end of the 1920s, the USSR authorities pursued the goal of persuading the Roma population to settle down in order to better control their actions. This took place under the guise of improving the living conditions of the Roma. Land and financial resources were made available to Roma willing to settle and the successfully settled Roma were collectivised in so-called "gypsy" collective farms. In the USSR, a kolkhoz was a collective farm, grouping together land, livestock, tools and the labor force of one or several villages in a collective framework. All production was delivered to the state. By 1932, 25 "gypsy" kolkhozes had been created, comprising 490 families; in 1938 there were 52 of them, but only 2-3% of the total Roma population of the USSR lived in them. Both sedentarisation and the establishment of "Gypsy" collective farms were presented by Soviet propaganda as a voluntary process that had occurred naturally among the nomadic Roma.[1] [1] https://rm.coe.int/sowjetunion-vor-dem-2-weltkrieg-datenblatter-zur-geschichte-der-roma/16808b1aa0

Questionnaire

Historical notes

Aleksandrovka is a village, located 8 km north of Smolensk. The first records about the Roma in the Smolensk region go back to the 19th century. In 1937, a kolkhoz “The Stalin Constitution” was established in the village to settle down the Roma nomadic people from the Smolensk region, who weren’t able to be integrated into the October farm due to lack of the land. The majority of the population was Roma. There was a Romani school. The village was occupied by Germans in summer 1941.

A Roma school used to be located at this place. The building was burned down by Germans during the occupation. Today, it is a private property. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad-In Unum

The place near the pond where all residents of Aleksadnrovka were gathered at dawn prior to the execution. One the Gypsies were separated from the Russians, they were taken to the shooting. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad-In Unum

The monument located on the local orthodox cemetery in the memory of 176 Soviet Roma who were murdered by Germans in Aleksandrovka. © Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad-In Unum

Sources/Archives

Soviet archives

“Even though I showed my papers, the German officer didn’t believe that I was Russian and he didn’t want to let me go. At the end, at about 3pm the pit had been dug and all Gypsies were taken to the barn located close to the pit. All the territory was cordoned off by German soldiers. The Germans took the Gypsies to the barn as they were cattle. Those who refused to move forward were beaten and pulled by force into the barn. The shooting started at 3pm. At least 70 Gypsies, including women, children and elder people were shot on my eyes. […] Before being killed the Gypsies were forced to undress. Some kept the underwear and others had to stay completely naked. Then, they were taken from the barn to the pit located 20-30m away. They were taken to the pit in families. The shooting was conducted by one German soldier who fired with a gun.” [Deposition of a local resident, Lidia K., given to the State extraordinary commission on October 10, 1943; RG-22.002M: 7021-44/1091]

PICTURES GALLERY

YIU TEAM with Sergey G.